On and off ice, Yandle a calming presence for Panthers

In the sea of up-and-coming talent and future stars that fills the Florida Panthers dressing room, Keith Yandle stands out as one of the club's very few elder statesmen, the 31-year-old leader of a burgeoning group of defensemen whose average age is just 25.

He's been described as an important "calming presence" and "steady hand" by his coaches, but those characteristics aren't limited to his play on the ice. In the dressing room, Yandle belies his age by being one of the youngest at heart among his teammates and keeping the mood light.
When taking a quick poll of the funniest guy in the room, Yandle's name simply kept coming up.
"I think he does a great job of just keeping us focused and keeping things loose at the same time," Panthers defenseman Mike Matheson said. "He's never making it seem like a loss is the absolute end of the world and he never makes it seem like a win is like we won the Stanley Cup. He's just always keeping it even-keeled."
After a normal practice, Yandle can often be found holding court on the far side of the dressing room at the Panthers IceDen, hat turned backwards and surrounded by his fellow defenseman. But as players make their way off the ice, the jokes begin to fly, with Yandle's monotone delivery and dry sense of humor never failing to elicit laughs from both his teammates and targets.
"If you start taking yourself too seriously, then you're harming yourself," Matheson said.
In the midst of his 12th NHL season, Yandle said he learned a long time ago that keeping things light is critical to the success of any team, especially one that's battling for a spot in the playoffs.
"I think it's big," Yandle said. "You've got to obviously notice the importance of every game, but you've got to have fun. If you're coming to the rink in a bad mood every day, it's going to transfer into your play. I think that staying light and having fun is a good key."
For the Panthers, there's been no shortage of fun in recent months. They've been one of the hottest teams in the NHL since the All-Star break, going 18-6-1 to climb within one point of the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card spot into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
A driving force behind Florida's late-season resurgence and push towards the playoffs, Yandle has been racking up points as quickly as laughs, notching six goals and 24 assists in 25 games since the All-Star break - the third-most points by a defenseman in the NHL during that span.
In his second season with the Panthers, he leads the club's defensemen in points (49), assists (42) and power-play points (17), while also leading the team in total ice time (1766:28).With just one more point, he will become just the third defenseman in franchise history to post 50 points in a single season, joining Robert Svehla (1995-96) and Brian Campbell (2011-12).
"He's been awesome for us all year," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. He really has, along with the rest of the guys that wear the letters. Keith's an amazing guy off the ice and he's really sort of the glue that keeps the team together… He's a guy that you can tell he's been in some big games and he's played long enough to where he sort of settles things down.
"He keeps the room really light and fun, and you need guys like that. Then he goes out on the ice and he's the same kind of personality on the ice. He settles the play down. He's an elite passer and he makes it look easy some nights. I think that helps some guys, especially the younger guys, to see how he approaches the game both on and off the ice."
Yandle hopes that approach - and maybe a few jokes - will rub off on his teammates.
"I think with a young group, especially on our back end, you've got to help guys, teach guys and help teach them that way," he said. "I know, for me, I had a lot of great older guys when I was young and learned a lot. Hopefully I can help somebody else out."
Want to learn more about Yandle's life on and off the ice? Check out his interview in the episode of "Territory Talk" below!